Kester gets 35-years-to-life

James Kester, 42, was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison Dec. 14 in Mendocino County Superior Court for the second-degree murder in September 2011. Kester entered Jason Blackshear's Babcock Lane home at about 8:20 p.m. Sept. 5 and beat him "to the point where he couldn't fight back," according to prosecutor Scott McMenomey, of the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office, then wrapped an industrial-type extension cord around his neck and strangled him. Kester also attached the extension cord to a hasp for a padlock on a door frame, leaving Blackshear's body on the floor and his head suspended, McMenomey said. Kester - against whom Blackshear had a restraining order, according to McMenomey - left the scene and was arrested the following day. Kester had argued that he killed Blackshear in self-defense, a claim the jury rejected, Judge Anne Moorman noted in court Friday, as she denied Public Defender Linda Thompson's motion to reduce Kester's second-degree murder charge to voluntary manslaughter. "The truth is that Mr. Kester is a murderer, and he's still not acknowledged any wrongdoing," McMenomey said. He also told the court that Kester had a "long criminal history" with 17 prior convictions, including "numerous" violations of probation and state parole, and "a lack of any participation in normal society." Kester had just finished reading a letter to the court in which he expressed his "sincerest apologies and deepest regret to the Blackshear family, and to my own family," but went on to maintain his innocence, saying Blackshear had attacked him first. "This was not a decision I chose, nor did I have any control," he read tearfully. "I fought for my life in that shed." Kester also claimed in his letter that the DA's Office had "used tactics to violate my constitutional rights" by arguing that he was racist, and by not investigating his claim that Blackshear hit him "with an instrument," among other claims. Moorman denied his request for a new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct. McMenomey read a letter from the Blackshear family that described the victim as having "a great love for animals, especially dogs," and as a former, valued worker at the coast food bank. "These types of sentencings are very upsetting, because there's no winner," Moorman said. According to McMenomey, Kester will first be eligible for parole in 35 years.